I'm Raising Money for Breast Cancer Now

Breast Cancer Now are the UK’s leading breast cancer research charity. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with over 55000 women being diagnosed each year. BCN are spearheading a campaign that hopes to be able to say that by 2050, everyone who develops breast cancer will live; however, in order to meet this goal, they need the support of as many people as possible. It all begins with research, so with 380 researchers across 31 institutions in the UK, it is paramount that they receive as much financial support as possible. The work spans across four areas: risk and prevention, early detection and diagnosis, treatment and secondary breast cancer.

Bloodwise is the UK’s leading blood cancer research charity. Established in 1960, they have made a huge impact in the fight against blood cancer; however, there is still a long way to go. Their research extends across laboratory based work and clinical trials, and without any government funding at all, Bloodwise solely rely on the support of their donors to enable this (potentially) lifesaving research to go ahead.

Both charities rely extensively on funding from donors, so part of what Rob and his team do at RedSeven is come up with new ways in which to enlist the support of the general public, encouraging them to sign up to the charities and donate even as little as £1 a week. This new initiative has already garnered a fantastic response, increasing the number of donors and raising awareness across the board. I caught up with Rob Cotterrell over at RedSeven to hear about their new Lottery Campaign in collaboration with Breast Cancer Now and Bloodwise.

So first of all, how does the Lottery Campaign actually work?

The BCN campaign that we’re running is a Lottery Campaign where donors sign up to play the Pink Ribbon Lottery on a weekly basis. Every Friday, they get given a set of their own unique numbers to play with, they’re subsequently entered into a draw and can win one of 18 cash prizes that range between £10 - £1000 each week. All the proceeds go to BCN. We started that last month - May - and have had some incredible results. Customers love it. The guys are really invested in the campaign and it’s good fun! It’s not just giving information out to our donors, it’s reframing their involvement with the Charity by including them, changing the dynamic and making them feel like they are part of something, whilst also providing them with an opportunity to win something back. It changes the format of donating slightly, adding a sense of play to the process. We've had an amazing response to this so far.

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Is the format the same with Bloodwise? When did you start the campaign with them?

Bloodwise are a brand new client of ours, and we started working with them on the 10th June. The difference is that with this initiative, donors can win up to £10000 a week! This scheme works a bit more like the National Lottery in that the amount available to win is relative to the amount of people who enter each week.

Why do you think this campaign has been successful? What is it about adapting the traditional mode of ‘donation’ that has had an impact?

I thought it was a great new concept of finding the charity new donors. We are reaching a new plethora of people through this campaign, and shedding light on the work that they do in an extremely relatable manner.

A lot of donors are used to supporting charities on a regular basis, but the concept of Lottery is quite fun! They are supporting a charity and the money goes to a great cause but they also have an added incentive of winning something back. I’ve been in the field testing this and a lot of customers that we’ve signed up - when we talk about the prizes - say that that’s not the reason that they’ve signed up, it’s to support a fantastic cause, but it does encourage people to engage with the charity in a new way and perhaps reach a new demographic. This is a completely separate donation, so existing customers can play as well, but they need to sign up to it in addition to their current donations.

We work door-to-door in terms of our Marketing methods, which - when it comes to charity work - really has an impact. People are so used to certain methods of advertising... they have certain expectations as to what a conversation about supporting a charity will involve, so we are trying to reframe their perspective on donating to charity a little. and encourage people to engage with BCN and Bloodwise in a new way. It’s a fun way to play! I thought it was a good idea to mix things up a bit. We’re seeing some amazing results, the brand ambassadors are having a fantastic time, breaking records every day and raising money and awareness for these charities.

Can you tell us a bit about the work that Bloodwise are doing?

Bloodwise’s goal is to generate more money to generate more research to aid the fight against blood cancer. We are looking to set up some field trips to their offices over the coming months to keep our team up to date with developments and targets to ensure that they are well informed and ready to pass on this information to potential donors.

They really are conducting ground-breaking research and changing lives. In the last 10 years they’ve helped changed survival rates for:

Leukaemia: was 7% now 46% Hodgkins Lymphoma: was 47% now 80% Non-hodgkins: was 22% now 63% Myeloma: was 6% now 33% Childhood Leukaemia: was 27% now 81%

When you look at these percentages, it’s astonishing. It is such important work, and it ends up saving lives.

Do you enjoy working in the Charity sector? Why do you do it?

I started in Direct Sales with charities 9 years ago, so it was all I knew, but it’s nice to work on behalf of great causes, very noble causes. There is a lot of corruption in this world! A lot of false advertising! It’s nice to be able to forge a career for myself in the knowledge that I am promoting worthy causes. BCN and Bloodwise are doing such important work. They are saving lives. Knowing that the hard work you put in is resulting in groundbreaking research is really inspiring.

What is it that you think is preventing the rest of the world from signing up? It’s such an important cause, so why doesn’t everyone donate?

Most people can afford to support charities. WIth these Lottery campaigns, it’s £1 a week, which in the grand scheme of things really isn’t much. If you think about it, people spend more on a pint, on a coffee, on petrol, so it’s not about the amount as such, but more about whether these people feel inspired to donate. We try to encourage members of the public to actively engage with these incredible charities by giving them an opportunity to get involved and start contributing to this research.

I think it’s less a case of people not wanting to donate, but more that they don’t know enough about the work these Charities are doing; If a lot more people knew what these charities are achieving, they would be more inspired to donate. It’s a no-brainer - by 2050, BCN aim to eradicate death from breast cancer. They can make a massive difference.

I think maybe because the goal seems so huge, people don’t believe that they can really make a difference, but it’s about taking small steps to contribute to the bigger picture. Reframing the perspective on it. That one pound might not seem like much, but collectively that pound a week funds the research that can save lives.

Yes - people have almost become immune tothe images used in charity advertising. Yes,they pull on our heartstrings, but that doesn’t seem to get results when it actually comes down to people donating money; whereas those people that have sadly had direct or indirect experience of breast cancer or blood cancer are a lot more likely to get involved.

Is it then less a case of getting the general public to empathise/feel guilty, and more about reframing their understanding of how they can make a difference? Do you find that speaking to people in person helps?

Totally. That’s the power of face-to-face marketing. It’s about creating a human connection. It’s not a generic message we’re sharing with the world, but a tailored conversation. We don’t want to guilt-trip our clients into blindly giving away their money, but moreover inform them as to how they can help. We are very solution based. The power of what we do face-to-face is huge. Ultimately, this initiative isn’t successful because it’s a lottery, but because we go out and have fantastic, inspiring conversations with people. We engage. It’s a lot more human, so everyone’s experience is completely different. It’s about recognising that each donor is an individual and treating them accordingly.

Congratulations to Rob and his team at RedSeven for creating such a fantastic campaign. It will be running at least until the end of the year, so get involved!

What are the prizes? So for Breast Cancer Now, there are 18 cash prizes a week every week: Top prize: £1000 every Friday 2nd prize: £250 3rd prize: £100 15 x chances to win £10 each week

With Bloodwise, it works like this, with a 1 in 63 chance of winning a prize each week: If they match 6 numbers: £10000 5 numbers: £1000 4 numbers: £25 3 numbers: £5

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